''L'Aigle à deux têtes'' is a French play in three acts by

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the s ...

, written in 1943 and first performed in 1946. It is known variously in English as ''The Eagle with Two Heads'', ''The Eagle Has Two Heads'', ''The Two-Headed Eagle'', ''The Double-Headed Eagle'', and ''Eagle Rampant''. The title refers to the

double-headed eagle In heraldry and vexillology, the double-headed eagle (or double-eagle) is a charge associated with the concept of Empire. Most modern uses of the symbol are directly or indirectly associated with its use by the late Byzantine Empire, origina ...

of heraldry. Cocteau also directed a film of his play which appeared in 1948. Cocteau said that he took his inspiration for the play from the separate stories of

Ludwig II of Bavaria Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or ('the Fairy Tale King'). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the ...

and of the

Empress Elisabeth of Austria Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria (24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898) was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I on 24 April 1854 until her assassination in 1898. Elisabeth was ...

. Ludwig was found drowned in

Lake Starnberg Lake Starnberg, or ''Starnberger See'' ) — called Lake Würm, or ''Würmsee'' , until 1962 — is Germany's second-largest body of fresh water, having great depth, and fifth-largest lake by area. It and its surroundings lie in three different Ba ...

in Bavaria in circumstances which have never been satisfactorily explained. Elisabeth was stabbed in the heart by an assassin while out walking in Geneva. For his portrait of the Queen, Cocteau drew upon the portrait of Elisabeth given by

Remy de Gourmont Remy de Gourmont (4 April 1858 – 27 September 1915) was a French symbolist poet, novelist, and influential critic. He was widely read in his era, and an important influence on Blaise Cendrars and Georges Bataille. The spelling ''Rémy'' de Gour ...

in his ''Promenades littéraires''. He was also concerned to create characters which called for a grand style of acting in a tradition which he saw as being in decline in French theatre. The performances of

Edwige Feuillère Edwige Feuillère (born Edwige Louise Caroline Cunatti; October 29, 1907 – November 13, 1998) was a French stage and film actress. Biography She was born Edwige Louise Caroline Cunatti to an Italian architect father and an Alsace-born mo ...

and Jean Marais in the first French production were an essential part of Cocteau's conception of the play.Jean Cocteau. Preface to ''L'Aigle à deux têtes''. (Paris: Gallimard, 1947)

Synopsis

On the 10th anniversary of the assassination of the king, his reclusive widow, the Queen, arrives to spend the night at the castle of Krantz. Stanislas, a young anarchist poet who seeks to assassinate her, enters her room, wounded; he looks exactly like the dead king, and the Queen shelters him instead of handing him over to the police. She sees him as the welcome embodiment of her own death, calling him Azraël (the angel of death). An ambiguous love develops between them, uniting them in a bid to outwit the machinations of the court politicians, represented by the Comte de Foëhn, the chief of police, and Édith de Berg, the Queen's companion. In order to remain true to their ideals and to each other, the Queen and Stanislas have to play their parts in a bizarre private tragedy, which the world will never understand. Act 1 takes place in the Queen's bedroom at Krantz: evening.
Act 2 is set in the castle library: the next morning.
Act 3 is again in the library: the following morning.

Dramatic analysis

Cocteau was interested in juxtaposing two characters who represent opposite ideas, a queen with an anarchist temperament and an anarchist with royalist sympathies, and who depart from those identities as they interact with each other as human beings. Other themes which recur elsewhere in Cocteau's work are the poet's obsession with death, and the fulfilment of love in death ('' Orphée'', '' Le Sang d'un poète'', '' L'Éternel Retour'').

Productions

The play was first performed at the Théâtre Royal des Galeries in Brussels in October 1946, followed by some performances in Lyon. The first Paris performances took place in November 1946 at the

Théâtre Hébertot Théâtre Hébertot () is a theatre at 78, boulevard des Batignolles, in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, France. History The theatre, completed in 1838 and opening as the Théâtre des Batignolles, was later renamed Théâtre des Arts in 190 ...

, directed by Jacques Hébertot. The cast included

as the Queen, Jean Marais as Stanislas, Silvia Monfort as Édith de Berg, and Jacques Varennes as the Comte de Foëhn. Costumes were by Christian Bérard, sets by André Beaurepaire, and

Georges Auric Georges Auric (; 15 February 1899 – 23 July 1983) was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault, France. He was considered one of ''Les Six'', a group of artists informally associated with Jean Cocteau and Erik Satie. Before he turned 20 he ...

wrote the "Hymne royal" which is heard at the end of the play. The production continued at other theatres in Paris in 1947. An English version of the play was made by

Ronald Duncan Ronald Frederick Henry Duncan (6 August 1914 – 3 June 1982) was an English writer, poet and playwright of German descent, now best known for his poem '' The Horse'' and for preparing the libretto for Benjamin Britten's opera ''The Rape of Lucr ...

under the title ''The Eagle Has Two Heads''. It was first performed at the Lyric Hammersmith in London on 4 September 1946, with

Eileen Herlie Eileen Herlie (March 8, 1918 – October 8, 2008) was a Scottish-American actress. Personal life Eileen Herlie was born Eileen Isobel Herlihy to an Irish Catholic father, Patrick Herlihy, and a Scottish Protestant mother, Isobel Cowden, ...

as the Queen and

James Donald James Donald (18 May 1917 – 3 August 1993) was a Scottish actor. Tall and thin, he specialised in playing authority figures, particularly military doctors. Early life Donald was born in Aberdeen, the fourth son of a Scottish Presbyterian m ...

as Stanislas. It was directed for the Company of Four by Murray Macdonald. (Ronald Duncan described his version as an "adaptation" rather than a translation.'Jean Cocteau. ''The Eagle Has Two Heads''; adapted by Ronald Duncan. (London: Vision Press, 1947) p.5. Cocteau was unhappy with this English version, calling it "preposterous".Jean Cocteau. ''Past Tense: Diaries'': vol.1; translated by Richard Howard. (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1987) p.36.) The first New York production was staged at the Plymouth Theatre on 19 March 1947, with

Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's '' L ...

as the Queen and

Helmut Dantine Helmut Dantine (7 October 1918 – 2 May 1982) was an Austrian-American actor who often played Nazis in thriller films of the 1940s. His best-known performances are perhaps the German pilot in '' Mrs. Miniver'' and the desperate refugee in '' ...

as Stanislas. Bankhead had originally cast twenty-two-year-old Marlon Brando as Stanislas, but their work relationship, according to Brando, was uncomfortable and oppressive, both onstage and off. After six weeks of frustrating out-of-town tryouts, she fired Brando in New Haven and recast the role with Dantine in time for the Broadway opening.Brando, Marlon: Songs My Mother Taught Me. Random House, 1994. pp.112-16. According to Cocteau, Bankhead made her own alterations to the play, and the production was a flop, running only 29 performances.

Adaptations

* '' L'Aigle à deux têtes'' (1948) was Cocteau's own film of his play, using the same principal actors from the Paris stage production. * ''L'Aigle à deux têtes'' (1975) was a French TV version of the play, directed by Pierre Cavassilas. * ''

Il mistero di Oberwald ''The Mystery of Oberwald'' ( it, Il mistero di Oberwald) is a 1980 Italian–German television drama film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and starring Monica Vitti, Paolo Bonacelli, and Franco Branciaroli. It is based on the 1946 play '' L'A ...

'' (1981) was a film of the play directed by Michelangelo Antonioni.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aigle a deux tetes Plays by Jean Cocteau 1946 plays Cultural depictions of Empress Elisabeth of Austria Cultural depictions of assassins Plays set in the 19th century Plays set in Austria French plays adapted into films